Bradford Conservative councillors quit party over conflicts

Three Tory councillors in Bradford have left the party because of "internal conflict" within the local Conservative Association.

Luke Majkowski said he and Joan Clarke would continue as independents alongside Robert Hargreaves, who quit last year to become an independent.

He said they were spending more time "constantly firefighting against" the association than on their duties.

The local Conservative Group said their departure was "sad and disappointing".

The Conservative Association is the group of party officials which selects who stands in the local elections, with the next due to be held in May.

Both Mr Majkowski and Ms Clarke were elected last year as councillors for the Queensbury and Wyke wards respectively.

Mr Majkowski said their decision to quit was "nothing to do with the Conservative Group", which represents councillors once they are elected.

"It's upsetting we've had to do it. Robert Hargreaves had no choice to go independent and we stepped down in support of him.

"A massive weight has been lifted," added Mr Majkowski.

In a Facebook post, Mr Majkowski said: "The three of us feel we can no longer work successfully with them [the Bradford Conservative Association].

"We feel we are constantly fire fighting against them and the time and effort spent fire fighting against the Bradford Conservative Association is taking too much time away from carrying on as successful councillors."

He said all three would continue to work "with Conservative values", but as independents.

Rebecca Poulsen, leader of Bradford Conservative Group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service their departure was a "loss" to the group.

"It is sad and disappointing that hard-working Conservative councillors feel they cannot remain in the Conservative Party due to internal issues specifically within the Bradford South constituency and will now represent their residents as independent councillors."

The Bradford Conservative Association has been contacted for a comment.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].